


In Too Deep

by FandomObsessedGirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean in Denial, First Kiss, Jack kline - Freeform, Jealous Dean Winchester, Jealous Gabriel (Supernatural), M/M, Monster of the Week, Pining Castiel, Pining Gabriel (Supernatural), Post Season 13, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam in Denial, UST, Undercover as Married, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-04-25 21:43:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14387718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomObsessedGirl/pseuds/FandomObsessedGirl
Summary: A series of disappearances leaving behind only grisly remains prompts Team Free Will to investigate the waterside 'Secret Lagoon' romantic resort.  With Jody and the girls busy, Castiel and Dean are forced to pair up whilst Sam reluctantly teams up with Gabriel to go undercover as two married couples visiting the retreat.





	1. Prologue: 6 Months Earlier

Michael was dead, the Apocalypse World sealed up hopefully for good, Jack and Mary home safely.

Despite persistent asking, Sam and Dean had been unable to convince any of the other versions of the many friends, and family, they had lost come back to their world.  As the Other Charlie had stated, it wasn't there call to make, and these were not the people that Sam and Dean had known as much as they wished it to be.  Even Ketch had remained behind hoping to fashion himself a new sort of life in the ashes of a world finally ready to rebuild itself.

Now Sam, Dean, Castiel, Jack and Gabriel were stood at the Heaven Gates at the sandbox.  

"Well," Gabriel said looking between the humans and his brother, "this is it."

Castiel smiled a little as Gabriel stretched out a hand to Jack.

"You sure about this, kiddo?"

A part of Castiel selfishly hoped that Jack might say no.  He had barely gotten to know Kelly's son despite his promise to keep the boy safe from harm.  But Heaven was crumbling - desperate for new angels - and though Gabriel had found he could not make angels alone, with Jack's help he believed it would be possible.  But Cas knew what the Nephilim's answer would be before the boy even spoke.  

"I'm sure."

Castiel raised an eyebrow at Gabriel to ask the same question and his brother nodded, face serious for once.

"I think it's time for me to face my family again.  This is where I need to be for the moment."

"Will we see either of you again, brother?" Cas asked and the archangel's expressions changed to send one of his gleeful grins in his brother's direction.

"'Course you will, Cassie.  I can't spend all my time up there, Heaven might be Paradise but it ain't no Monte Carlo that's for sure."

Even Sam snorted at that whilst Dean rolled his eyes - but the small smirk tugging his lips indicated his amusement.  Jack on the other hand frowned.

"What's so great about Monte Carlo?"

Gabriel's smile widened to the point where it looked like he would take a bite out of someone.  

"Well-" he began before Sam interrupted him.

"Don't corrupt the mind of an innocent one year old, Gabe," he huffed, and Jack looked between his Uncle and the youngest Winchester in obvious confusion.

Gabriel merely laughed, his whiskey gold eyes glittering mischievously.

"Alright, alright, I'll save the stories for you three."

"How nice of you," Dean drawled and the archangel's grin widened.

"I knew you agreed, Dean-o." He stretched his arms wide, "and I'm sure you're still going to claim you hate chick flick moments regardless of that copy of _50 First Dates_ in your room-" Dean's face turned an interesting shade of pink as he scowled at the archangel whilst Sam laughed, "-but bring it in!  Hugs all around!"

"I hate you," Dean grumbled even though he obliged, albeit briefly whist Jack and Castiel did the same - their hug lasting longer as they spoke quietly to each other - before the short archangel turned to Sam, a softer smile gracing his features.

"See you around, Samshine.  I'll miss you and you and your leaning tower of hair product and plaid."

Sam rolled his eyes and hugged the short archangel around the middle.

"Can't say I'll miss you leaving candy wrappers all over the bunker," he muttered, "and I certainly won't miss you pulling pranks on me or Dean's wrath when you stole his pie."

"Yes you will," Gabriel grinned, stepping back and waggling his eyebrows, "and as for the pie, it was just sat there waiting to be eaten." 

"I clearly remember stating - _this is my pie, nobody touch_."  Dean narrowed his eyes, jaw twitching at the memory.

"Ah, my apologies, I tuned out once the smell of cinnamon and cherries hit me.  I can assure you though - it was a great pie."

Castiel and Jack stepped back from each other and Jack hugged the two Winchesters together, his right arm around Dean's neck, his left around Sam's, in a group hug whilst Gabriel turned his gleeful shit-eating grin to his brother. 

"Thank you," Jack said once he had stepped back, face glowing with excitement at the prospect of seeing Heaven, but a sadness in his eyes as he looked between the two Winchesters who, for a time, had been the only people he had ever really known, "both of you."

"Even me?" Dean seemed surprised and Jack nodded enthusiastically before his brow furrowed.

"I didn't think you were very nice to me originally, but I can see now that you were just unhappy and pining without Castiel.  You're a lot happier when he's around."

Dean's face turned red and he began spluttering some half hearted protests that he 'wasn't pining' whilst Sam hid his snickering behind his hand.  Having his own suspicions about his brother and best friend were great and all, but when other people saw what he did, it made him feel like he wasn't completely crazy.  Seemingly oblivious to Dean's state, Jack returned to the sandbox with Gabriel who grinned at them all.  Jack was beaming and raised a hand in goodbye whilst Gabriel grinned cheekily at them as the white smoke swept up around them.  Sam felt a small pang in his chest as both Jack, the Nephilim he had come to care for so much, and even Gabriel who had turned out to be 'alright for a feathery dickbag' (Dean's words pre-pie incident) vanished into the ether and, judging from the expressions of Dean and Castiel, they his brother and best friend were just as affected by the farewell.

"Sayonara boys!" he heard shout and then the smoke cleared leaving the sandbox empty.

The Winchesters and Seraph stood there a moment longer, Cas frowning at the sky a little.

"I feel like I just sent my kid off to college," Dean said gruffly and Sam saw him stubbornly hiding his face from the two of them.

"Well he said Cas is his father," Sam said slowly, with a wicked grin on his face, "and you know the two of you-"

"Shut your face! Get in the car."

The youngest Winchester was sniggering all the way back to Lebanon despite the murderous glares his brother sent him.


	2. Case and Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys catch wind of a case at the Secret Lagoon romantic resort.

Exactly six months after Gabriel and Jack had departed to Heaven was the Tuesday preceding Valentine's Day.  Ever since Gabriel had been revealed as alive again, Sam had marked his Tuesdays with a note of caution and preparation that the tricky archangel might throw him into another time loop just for the fun of it, or as he might put it, "old times sake" as if they were discussing an old hobby.  Right now though, those thoughts were on the back burner as he read over the news article opened on his laptop one more time.

"Hey guys-" he began and looked up before sighing in exasperation.

Dean and Cas were doing the "dance around" tango, a dance they had long perfected the art of as both of them refused to acknowledge their own feelings whilst being somehow oblivious to the fact that the other felt the exact same way.  The "dance around" tango - full name "The Dance Around Tango of Seriously Unresolved Sexual Tension" - as Sam had mockingly dubbed it primarily consisted of enough longing gazes, epic staring contests and distant pining to fill a melodramatic b list romance movie. 

Neither his brother nor the angel seemed to have heard him over the sound of unresolved sexual tension so he coughed loudly hoping to break epic stare off no.953.  

Dean finally (reluctantly) dragged his eyes away from the angel at the sound.

"What?" he asked snippily.

"I think I've caught wind of a case."

"Seriously, Sammy?" Dean groaned, "we just wrapped one up yesterday."

The three of them had finished off a wendigo the previous day which had resulted in Dean getting thrown into a tree - Castiel was not impressed - Sam getting a slash across the forearm and all three of them suffering several stinging burns as they finished the thing off.  Thankfully Cas had healed them, Dean first as was generally the case, before they made their way back to Lebanon.  After Gabriel and Jack's departure to Heaven, Rowena deciding to take a cruise of the Caribbean with some millionaire art dealer she claimed to have ensnared the heart of without magic - Dean was still suspicious - and the frenzy as they prepared to deal with the Alternate Michael over, the bunker had seemed quieter.  

Sam was used to waking up every morning and stumbling into one of Gabriel's pranks, or being awoken by Dean shouting at Gabriel for pulling a prank on him.  Gabriel had then introduced Jack to the wonders of candy other than nougat and after one incident - for which Dean, Sam and Castiel had all unanimously agreed to never leave both Gabriel and Jack alone in the bunker again - in which the young Nephilim had ended up on a crazed sugar rush that had almost caused half the building to explode.  The archangel had gotten along fantastically with his nephew, for better of for worse, and had even roped Jack into pulling some pranks of his own.  Castiel called Gabriel a terrible influence, Gabriel had said Castiel needed to look up the word fun in the dictionary.  Gabriel and Rowena had also become mortal frenemies with the witch taking immense pleasure in casting hexes on the archangel and him retaliating by casting his own 'joke' so that everything she touched turned into skittles (he'd gotten the idea from the advert) which had been funny up until touched the Impala at which point Castiel had to physically restrain Dean whilst Gabriel reverted everything back to normal.  The rows and verbal sparring between the witch and the archangel had been loud and filled with innuendo to the point where even Dean looked disturbed.  Even when they had all knuckled down to deal with the looming threat of Michael that was hanging over them, the bunker had been tense and charged with energy.

But now it was back to three of them it felt quieter.  

There were no world ending events happening, Gabriel and Jack were working wonders in Heaven if the messages Castiel was receiving via angel radio were to be believed and with the Princes of Hell gone and Hell presumably reorganising to find a new leader after the last of Lucifer's grace had been used to open the rift to save Jack and Mary leaving him practically human, there had been silence from both ends.  

"But listen to this," Sam insisted in response to his brother's protestation, "Sixth Person missing in Secret Lagoon Disappearances."

"Secret Lagoon?" Dean scoffed.

"It's a 'romantic retreat'," Sam explained, "it's by a remote lake, so not really a lagoon as such.  But get this, a few weeks ago the first person disappeared and then two days later some 'bloody remains' were found on the other side of the lake where the hiking trail goes past.  They were matched to the missing person's DNA.  Every time a person goes missing, bloody remains show up on the shore opposite the retreat.  I think it's worth a look."

"We've gone on more with less," Castiel pointed out and Dean's reluctance quickly changed to agreement.

"Well I guess..."

 _Wow_ , Sam thought with a mental eye roll, _who knew Dean was so whipped_.

"Thing is its only local forces involved because 'Secret Lagoon' is kinda in the middle of nowhere, the article's quite obscure.  They're not going to expect Feds to be showing up for this."

"Are you thinking undercover?" Dean asked and Sam nodded.

"The retreat is split into two sort of sections; couples and singles wanting to meet someone with similar interests.  The retreat is based around water activities, hiking - don't give me that look Dean - and recreational outdoor sports."

"Could we investigate as staff?" Castiel asked and Sam shook his head.

"I checked their website whilst picking the case - no job vacancies and the waiting list on singles is almost a month long."

"You're proposing we go undercover as couples?" Castiel frowned when Sam nodded, "there's three of us."

Sam nodded in agreement and then paused as an idea came to him.

"Well you and Dean can pair up together and I'll see if-"

"What?!"

Sam barely managed to hold in his laughter at Dean's outburst.  His brother was flushed red and pointedly avoiding looking at Cas.

"What do you mean me and Cas pair up together?" 

"I mean," Sam said, deliberately slowly, "you and Cas go undercover as a couple at the retreat."

His brother looked seriously close to bursting a blood vessel.  Even Cas had looked a little flushed by the suggestion taking a sudden interest in a nearby wall.

"But-" his brother spluttered looking for some way to escape, "I can't go undercover with Cas!"

"Why not?" Sam asked and then wrinkled his nose, "I'd find it too weird to go undercover with you as a couple, I'll just call around, see if any other hunters are available to go undercover with me."

"Well why don't I do that!" Dean protested and Sam put on his straightest face.

"Okay sure, then I'll go as Cas' husband."

Cas blinked at him and then looked at Dean who had turned a few shades redder and was looking ready to punch something.  Sam had caught the little glint of jealousy in Dean's eye though when he suggested that he go with Cas.  There had been a look that said "over my dead body" at the very thought of Sam even considering a relationship with Castiel - even a fake one for a case.

"Fine, whatever," Dean said loudly, "I'll go with Cas, this is stupid but fine. Cas, you okay with this?"

Castiel was smiling with faint delight.  

"Absolutely."

"There.  Done. Sorted." Dean stood up and made a hasty beeline for the door.  "Bye!"

"Is something the matter, Dean?" Cas asked looking confused at the elder Winchester's behaviour.

"Nope, nothing!" Dean bluffed, ducking out of the door, "totally a-okay!"

And with that he vanished down the bunker hallway leaving a highly amused Sam and a more than slightly confused Castiel.

\---

 

Dean is going to murder Sam.  

Screw brotherly affection and the past forty years, he is going to murder his little brother.  All he'd wanted to do was have a relaxed day where he might casually suggest that he and Cas watch a movie in either his room or the Dean Cave and end the day sat by Cas watching his reactions to the movie as they sat maybe a bit too close together... and now he was about to embark on a case where he and Cas were a couple and likely going to spend large periods of time together at a romantic retreat.

Fuck.

Dean is fucked.  This case is fucked. 

Stupid case, stupid meddling brother (Dean's seen the looks he's given him and Cas, the 'knowing' looks.  Shut up Sammy, you don't know anything), stupid angel and his stupidly blue eyes.  Seriously blue eyes.  Dean's pretty sure it should be downright illegal to have eyes that blue.  Not that he's really noticed, or thought about it.  At all.

There's lots of things Dean also hasn't really noticed about Cas.  For instance, he hasn't noticed that the angel's hair looks really inviting to touch when it's mussed up like the Seraph got hit by lightning, or that the angel is actually quite buff underneath that trench coat, or that his voice sounds like the best sex Dean's ever had...

Nope.  He hasn't noticed any of those things.  Not at all.  Never.  

But even so he knows it's a bad idea for him to go undercover with Cas as a couple.  A terrible idea.  But it's not like he can say just _why_ it's a terrible idea, because that would mean acknowledging-

 _Nope_.

Slamming the brakes on right there.

Dean shook his head with a scowl.  He is not going there. 

Yeah, he was devastated when Cas was dead in a way that had left him cold inside and furious at the world and everyone in it.  But Cas is his friend, his best friend, as much his brother as Sam is.  Alright, one half of his brain says to the other firmly.

Of course he is, the second half says sarcastically, which is why you 'definitely don't' check him out-

Shut up, we are not going there, Dean thinks grumpily as he flops down onto his bed and reaches for his headphones.  

The sooner they wrap up the case, the less time he had to play husband with Cas.  The less time they'll have to act romantic around one another, stay in the same room... the same bed...

Dean smacks himself on the forehead and groans.

He is so fucked.


	3. The Last Resort

The day before the Winchesters intended to set out and Sam still hadn't found a partner for the case; Jody and Donna were dealing with ghosts in Sioux Falls with the girls, Garth was retired, Jesse and Caesar were retired, and the only hunter's name left in the phonebook was Walt's and there was no way in Hell that Sam was pairing up with him.Sam groaned in frustration and smacked his head against the table in front of him.He sat back up and went to close the phonebook when he spotted something gold and glittery peeking out from one of the other pages.

With a frown, Sam flipped it open to read what was written there in gold glittery pen:

 **Samoose!In case of these emergencies; candy eating competition, Dean and Cassie's sexual tension is too much and requires Trickster intervention, EPIC PRANK WAR, porn stars - pray to me and I'll be down there faster than your brother can eat a cherry pie -Gabriel** **CALL ME ;)**

Sam rolled his eyes and was about to close the phonebook anyway when the small, irritating part of his mind that he generally ignored decided to pipe up unhelpfully from the back of his brain:

'Why don't you ask Gabriel?"

 _NO_ , was his immediate response.It wasn't that he didn't like the candy eating short-stack of an archangel, Gabriel could be lewd, obnoxious and a pain, but he was also funny and in his rare moments of seriousness quite likeable and offered good advice. _So why not ask him?_ the unhelpful part of his brain shouted from the back. _Because... Well because..._

 _Gabriel's not good at undercover_ , Sam thought to himself firmly.

Total lie.Gabriel was _excellen_ t at undercover.Sure, his undercover characters were almost always exactly how he was, but the archangel had never had his cover broken by any human, demon or angel - aside from the Winchesters and Cas.Plus having an archangel on side in a case wouldn't be a bad thing... so what was the reason for not asking him?

 _Because he's busy_.

That was slightly more true.Heaven was in desperate need of more angels that Jack and Gabriel were creating with their combined powers.If Gabriel disappeared then the process of making angels would be halted.However, Gabriel had left his number clearly asking to be contacted for some pretty unimportant reasons so clearly he wanted to have a break or he wouldn't have written it. 

With a conceding groan, Sam began to pray;

_Gabriel, it's me.. um, Sam.Sam Winchester. I don't know if you're, um, too busy or anything but if you're not we- I could really use your help?There's this case and we need to go undercover at this romantic vacation retreat kinda thing and Dean and Cas are going as a couple but I don't have anyone to go with... um, don't know if you're interested but we're leaving at 8am tomorrow morning... so if you could get to the bunker before then that would be great.Um, thanks._

Sam highly doubted he was going to receive an answer.Looking up he noticed Cas and Dean walking into the bunker's main library discussing the plot of the latest movie Dean had insisted Cas watch.

"I don't understand how Doc could have made a time machine out of an 18th Century train, Dean."

 _Ah_ , so Back to the Future then.

"It's a movie Cas, and it's a great movie.Ipso facto." He turned to Sam as they walked in, "who's going with you then, Sammy on this romantic retreat thing?"

"I don't know," Sam groaned, "Jody's busy, Donna's busy, everyone's busy 'sides Walt-" Dean's face twisted into a grimace."- tell me about it and I'm not asking him.So I honestly don't know... I did try pray-"

As if on cue, the door to the bunker slammed open hitting the wall with a loud bang that almost gave Sam a heart attack.

"Did someone say vacay?!" a familiar voice shouted from the top of the stairs.

Dean was clutching his chest, frozen in shock, even Cas looked startled - his angel blade had dropped into his hand and was aimed at the door - and Sam struggled to get his breathing back under control as Gabriel sauntered down the stairs and grinned at them all. 

He looked ridiculous. 

For one, Gabriel was wearing a pair of sunglasses framed with tacky plastic palm trees, a large floppy sunhat that Sam was 90% sure was designed for a woman, a multi coloured paper flower necklace, an open green and blue Hawaiian shirt, bright red vest top, neon orange shorts and bright pink flip flops.The clashing colours were too bright for Sam's eyes and he looked away in exasperation.He was also holding a battered suitcase in one hand stamped with various travel stickers and had a large multicoloured fruity drink with three cherries, at least twenty paper umbrellas, and a fancy straw sticking out of it.

The archangel took a long sip of the drink and waved cheerfully at Dean and Cas who were, for lack of a better word, gawping at him.

"Hey, Dean-o, Cassie. Did'ya miss me?"

"I thought you were in Heaven," Castiel said at last when he recovered from his initial surprise.

"I was when all of a sudden a tall and handsome Samsquatch calls me up for a case involving a romantic holiday, how could I refuse?Speaking of which..." he thrust his suitcase at Dean who caught it with an 'oomf' and shoved the fruit drink at his brother, spilling it, before rounding on Sam with a grin."Samoose, Sam-a-lam, Samsquatch, Samonapolis, I have to say I was incredibly flattered to receive your prayer- I take it you found my message."

"You look ridiculous," was what Sam finally managed to say and Gabriel shrugged, taking his drink back from an unamused Cas who's shirt was stained with where it had lapped over the rim of the glass.

"How about this then?"

With a snap of his fingers the archangel was wearing regular clothes again though the fruit drink remained in his hand.

"Better?"

"Much," Sam agreed with an exasperated sigh, "I hope you're going to take this seriously, Gabe."

"You invited _Gabriel?!_ " Dean spluttered incredulously when he finally snapped out of it.He frowned at the suitcase pressed against his chest and then dropped it the floor ignoring the archangel's noise of protest before the shorter man poked Dean in the nose.

"And why shouldn't he invite me, Dean-o?" Gabriel turned back to Sam, mouth quirked up in a smirk, "and you Sammopocalypse can be sure that I will be taking this 100% seriously.Completely dead serious."

"Very convincing," Sam said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "and my name is Sam."

"Whatever you say, Samshine."

And with that, Gabriel dropped down into a chair pulling a lollipop from his pocket which he popped into his mouth.

"How's Jack and Heaven?" Castiel asked, taking a seat opposite his brother, face tense as he waited for news.

Gabriel took the sucker out of his mouth.

"Jack's doing great, Heaven's no longer at risk of breaking down any minute.Both of us, combining our powers, have managed to make at least thirty new angels." He grinned broadly and Castiel smiled - that was clearly a good sign.  "Of course it's taken us a while to actually work out how to manufacture new angels - the first one we created ended up closer to a rock than an angel but we're getting there."  He pointed the lollipop on Sam.  "But honestly, I need a break.  Everyone's so ... so ..." he frowned looking for the right word.  "... whatever.  Basically Heaven's no Monte Carlo and porn stars, you get what I'm saying."  He waggled his eyebrows and Sam let out an exasperated sigh.  Gabriel popped the lollipop back in his mouth and spoke again around the bright red sweet.  "So this little undercover stint where I get to play house with Sam-a-lam over here sounds like a great deal."  He turned to Cas and Dean grinning.  "And I hear you two are going to be playing lovebirds around one another.  Does that mean I have to give Dean-o the big brother speech?"

Dean turned bright red and looked at the floor whilst Castiel flushed a bright shade of fuchsia and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Ah," Gabriel waved his hand dismissively, "I'm sure you get the idea Dean-o.  Break my baby bro's heart, I break your legs... and arms... and ribs.  Ya get me, Bucko?" Even with the cheeky grin on his face, there was a certain level of threat behind the archangel's words that made Dean give a small nod out of instinct - he didn't even seem to realise he had done so.  "Great!" Gabriel beamed and swung his feet off the table.  "When do we leave?"

"Well, now, I guess," Dean said, shaking his head to clear it - he still seemed completely thrown by the archangel's presence in the bunker library.

"Excellent!" The archangel picked up his suitcase, "Onwards then boys!"

And with that, Gabriel walked out the library leaving two hunters and an angel staring after him in varying stages of bewilderment.  

"You're sure you're going to be able to put up with him as your husband for however long we're stuck at this place?" Dean asked.

"I heard that, Bucko!" came a distant shout from somewhere down the hallway.  "Celestial being, remember?  Great sense of hearing!  You're really failing to impress me as Cassie's in law!"

Sam snorted as Dean's mouth shut with an audible clomp and both he and Cas both blushed and looked anywhere but each other again.  The youngest Winchester sighed, this was going to be a loooonnnnggg week.

\----

Castiel eyed his brother with immense trepidation as Dean drove towards the Secret Lagoon Resort.  His older brother was clearly aware of his feelings towards the eldest Winchester and was clearly going to enjoy torturing Cas by insinuating something was between them.

It had taken Castiel years to even understand his feelings towards the Hunter; he had known that there had been something between them - at one point he had referred to it as a 'profound bond', though on further mediation he had come to realise that his phrasing did not fully encompass what he felt for Dean Winchester.  It was only after becoming human, when Metatron had cast him out of Heaven, that he had realised what it was.  Not immediately.  When he saw Dean again for the first time since becoming human, he remembered his heart tugging and feeling a warm joy and relief - before April had stabbed him with his own angel blade.  And after being thrown out of the bunker, and feeling a hollow sort of emptiness and deep pain in his chest, he had researched what was happening to him and finally discovered the correct term - heartbreak: an overwhelming distress commonly associated with romantic feelings.  Further research had led him to realise with shock, though not total horror, that he had fallen - not just literally - completely and irrevocably for the elder Winchester.

He had never voiced these feelings and struggled to keep them hidden.

For one, though Castiel was technically not male, the body he currently occupied was.  Dean and Sam both clearly saw him as male and Dean had shown a clear preference to females.  Not once had Castiel ever heard of, or seen, Dean expressing any sort of romantic gestures towards another man.  Regardless of Castiel's and Heaven's own indifference towards gender preference between humans, Castiel knew his feelings could not be returned by Dean.  And even if Dean was attracted to other men, Castiel highly doubted that the brave, caring and wonderful - if irritatingly stubborn - hunter would ever want or settle for someone like Castiel.  They were friends, Dean had even referred to Castiel as like a brother to him (another painful reminder to the angel that Dean was not as irrevocably gone on him as he was on Dean), but Castiel had betrayed Dean, lied to him, hurt him.  How could Dean love him after all that?

Sam opened up a folder on his lap and began pulling out fake IDs and passports.

"Alright, so the first victim was one of the singles - Jacie Adams, 33.  The next was Oscar Roberts, 45, visiting with his wife, and the others were a staff member - Rita Hale, 57 - and Scott Oliver, 28, also one of the singles, Lillian Daniels, 25, visiting with her husband, and Moira Francis, 42, visiting with her wife."

"Are there any similarities between them?" Dean asked as both angels leaned on the bench to see the files and Sam shook his head.

"No, different ages, different genders, different ethnicities, different sexualities.  None of them seemed to really know each other, except for maybe meeting at some of the workshops or during the activities.  The only similarity is the way they disappear: they vanish - last seen heading for the lake - and then around two days later, on the other side of the lake, people find bloody remains.  The disappearances are quite few and far between though.  They started up about five weeks ago, then the next one vanished two weeks later but recently the frequency between the disappearances has been speeding up."

"Lake monster?" Dean suggested, "if they were all last scene heading to the lake?  Or it could be a ghost who drowned like that case by Lake Montiac in Wisconsin?"

"There are a number of monsters that dwell in water," Castiel began as he read the article, "Naiads, Shellycoats, ahuitzotl-"

"Bless you," Dean said and Castiel frowned.

"I didn't sneeze."

The elder Winchester grinned at him but didn't elaborate.

"Shellycoats generally don't leave Britain," Gabriel pointed out to his younger brother, "but then again there have been incidences where monsters move territories either willingly or part of the rare creature trade."

"People trade monsters?" Sam looked appalled and disgusted.

Gabriel nodded.

"People trade anything.  If they're willing to trade each other what makes you think they wouldn't trade monsters as well?  There's quite a market for having a monster as a pet, or, in the cases of ones like Selkies, well..."  Gabriel raised his eyebrows pointedly and Dean's face twisted in disgust.

Both Winchester brothers pulled faces that indicated their disapproval at the trade - probably more for the idea of a human wanting to buy a monster rather than for the life of the monsters themselves.  Thankfully the conversation didn't continue as Dean turned the next corner and they passed a wooden heart shaped sign with letters carved into it:

'Secret Lagoon Resort - Get Yourself some Lakeside Lovin'!'

Castiel frowned.

"Why would they spell 'Loving' wrong if the whole purpose of their facilities are for romantic relationships between humans?"

"It's part of the style, Cas," Dean said, chuckling and looking at Castiel in a strange, soft, kind of way that made the seraphim frown, "come on."

"Yeah," Gabriel agreed, a wicked, impish grin on his features that filled Castiel with dread, "like you and Dean-o are gonna be getting some sweet lovin' in for this little fiesta!"

Dean made a choking noise and Castiel wanted to cry out in despair as his older brother cackled getting out of the vehicle.  Did his brother have to keep doing this?  

Judging by the downright evil look on the archangel's face, yes, yes he would.


	4. Look On the Bright Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I want to see if anyone can guess what the MOW is in this fic. I'd be very interested to what people think. ;D

'Secret Lagoon' was situated by a deep water lake surrounded by wooded areas and high rocky hills too small to be considered mountains but tall enough to provide a sweeping view over the horizon. On the North side of the lake was the main resort itself; the main building covered in oaken planking to give it a rustic, natural feeling with wooden cabins dotted around the lake side in a semi circle - the remains had always been discovered on the Southern bank where the hiking trail came down from the hills on the West side back into the valley before heading into the Eastern forested side; a rack of canoes stood by the water's edge; a set of stables and paddock was situated a way back from the lake - a fairly recent addition to the resort according to the website; a few couples were dotted around, some in groups, some by themselves talking to each other, with their arms around each other or just sitting and quietly enjoying the peaceful tranquility.

This natural, beautiful landscape was somewhat spoiled by the gaudy pink calligraphy over the main door of the main building.

Dean really tried not to pull a face at the neon lettering but he was sure his grimace was still obvious.  Sam looked a bit disturbed going by Frowny Face #4 - Why oh Why oh Why? Rarely seen but still a delight to those keeping a tally.  Gabriel by contrast seemed to love it.

"Look Samoose," he was saying as he practically dangled off of his fake-boyfriend's arm, "look how wonderfully romantic this place is!"

Of course he may have been being facetious. Who could tell?

Cas was giving his own adorable frowny face #1 - I do not understand, an instant classic - with a small confused head tilt.

"Doesn't the sign detract from the rustic aesthetic this resort seems to be trying to achieve?" he asked Dean who grimaced at him in agreement.

"I'm gonna paint that sign over, just looking at it now is giving me a headache," he grumbled, "come on."

The main entrance way was carpeted in a rich Burgundy leading up to a wooden reception desk behind which an ornately framed large photograph of a couple hung on the wall beaming at the camera. The man was grey haired, wore a sharp suit and was impossibly thin with a sharp jawline and lean muscle, his steely grey eyes burned through the canvas and his smile seemed pained, the woman - whom Dean could only presume was his wife - by contrast was plump, curly haired and beaming with an arm wrapped round her husband's neck and wearing a bright floral dress. Stood behind the desk beneath it was a middle aged woman with peroxide blonde hair and a wide smile that Dean assumed was meant to seem inviting but instead came across like she was going to take a bite out of them.

"Welcome to Secret Lagoon," she greeted cheerily as Sam and Gabriel approached the desk first, "well I haven't seen you boys here before - I wouldn't forget such handsome faces - so I'll assume you're checking in? Can I have your reservation please?"

"Uh... Sam and Gabriel Mercury," Sam said his face clearly perturbed by the deranged smile that was directed in full force at him, "we booked a couple's cabin...?"

"Ah yes! Cabin 17 - quite private," she winked and Sam's face turned red, "here is your key and a leaflet with all the activities you could possibly want to do here... if you're planning on leaving your cabin that is!" She let out a braying laugh that sounded like a dying seal. "Oh, I'm just teasing, I hope you boys have a wonderful stay! My name is Dee-Dee Lanes and if you have any questions?"

"No," Sam said clearly eager to get away from her.

"Yes!" Gabriel said at the exact same time baring his own manic smile, "do you keep this place in a fresh supply of con-"

"We'll just be leaving now!" Sam physically dragged Gabriel away from the counter his face an indignant red of mortification and clear regret in his choice of partner.

"Okay then, Samshine, you can help me break in the bed springs!"

If Dean wasn't too busy laughing at his brother's expense, he probably would have stormed over to the archangel to try and kick his ass for making such blatant innuendo about his brother; as it stood, his laughter was slowly fading away as the full force of Derranged-Dee-dee turned on him.

"And who might you lovely lads be?" she purred.

"Dean and Castiel Reed," Dean said hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible.

"Aw, married, how lovely!" she beamed up at them both, "you'll be staying in Cabin 20 - very secluded if you catch my meaning..."

Dean felt his face heating up.Â Â Fuck it all to hell.Â Â Why him?Â Â Why?Â Â Did he offend someone in a past life?Â Â Did he offend Chuck in some great way?Â Â Fuck it all.

"Here is your key and a leaflet about all the activities you can do here - if you ever want to leave your cabin that is," she winked suggestively and Castiel's 'I don't understand face' recoiled as even he picked up on the innuendo.

Dean needed to get the fuck away from this crazy lady. Like now. Maybe he could escape whilst she was doing an impression of a donkey-seal hybrid meeting its unfortunate demise.

"If you ever have any questions-" Apparently not because Chuck hated him.  Had he offended him that much at the Bunker? "Just be sure to come and give me a visit! I hope you boys have a good time."

"Thank you!" Dean shouted disingenuously as he dragged Castiel out by the back of his tan coat, "we will definitely-" not "-do that!"

The main door slammed behind them and Dean let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"She seems very interested in other people's personal lives," Castiel said staring through the main door to where the woman was waving cheerfully at them through the glass.

"Let's just go to our cabin before she tries to talk to us again," Dean groaned hurrying away and glancing over his shoulder to keep speaking with Cas, "we can drop our stuff off and then meet back up with - oof!"

The elder Winchester was abruptly cut off by walking face first into a solid surface that nearly knocked him off his feet.

"You better watch where you're going, lad," the surface said in a friendly manner.

Dean blinked up and flushed when he realised the solid thing he'd walked into was a very naked, very male, very muscular chest. Then he had to take pause because Shirtless Man was actually one of the more attractive men Dean had seen - not the most. He wasn't really Dean's type for one. He had a long face, his eyes were plain brown not a rich blue, he was more broadly muscular than lean and his hair was very long, brown and currently plastered to his scalp and shoulders.  He had clearly just been swimming in the lake and he grinned at them with large white teeth.

"You two must be new, I don't remember these handsome faces being around these parts!  Did ya meet the old bat yet?"

"We just had the pleasure of meeting 'Deedee' if that is who you were referring to," Castiel replied, he even did the air quotes that made Dean smile involuntarily.

"Ah," Shirtless-Guy said raking his eyes approvingly up and down Castiel.

Dean instantly hated him.

"Say you wouldn't happen to be stayin' in singles wouldya?"

"Couples," Dean said through gritted teeth, "we're married."

"That's a cryin' shame," Dickface-Get-A-Shirt said, eyes still roving over Castiel regardless, "well introductions I suppose, my name is Ahearn, and who might you lads be?"

"Dean and Castiel Reed, can't say I've heard Ahearn before?"

"And I cannot say I've met a Castiel before," Ahearn pointed out, "but it's an an angel name is it not?"

"And Ahearn is Irish," Castiel stated and the man nodded grinning.

"My family came all the way over here in the 1800s," Ahearn nodded, "Proud American and Proud Irishman through and through."

"Well, Cas and I had better be going-" Dean interrupted

"Oh, sorry ta keep ya there, lad," Ahearn stepped out of the way and rubbed the back of his neck, "if you lads ever want to meet up some time-?"

'We'll bear that in mind," Dean grumbled, "you've got lake weed in your hair you realise?"

"You don't have to be so rude, Dean," Castiel chided once they were out of earshot, as dean danced over his shoulder to see Ahearn tossing the lake weed from his hair back into the water. "He was just being friendly to us."

"I'm sure he was."

"Dean, what's troubling you?"

"Huh?"

"Something's clearly bothering you," Castiel said stopping by the door to their cabin, "would you feel better if we talked about it?"

 _Shitshitshitshitshitshit_ -

"No, I'm just tired, Cas," he lied, "it was a long drive up here."

"Next time you should let either myself or Sam drive," the angel sighed, smiling in an almost relieved(?) way at him, "I would suggest Gabriel as well however I know that will never happen after what happened with the Impala and the skittles."

"Please don't remind me," the hunter groaned, "if I had it my way, your brother would never come within a 200 mile radius of Baby ever again."

\---

Sam had thought it was bad when Gabriel was stirring up innuendos with Rowena. He was wrong.

What was worse was Gabriel directing every innuendo, flirt, suggestive comment and outright blatant sexual statement at him.When the younger Winchester asked him to stop, the Archangel's turned ironically angelic and innocent claiming he was just trying to get Sam used to the flirting since they had to pretend to be married.

"Of course you are," Sam muttered under his breath.

"Angelic hearing, Sam-a-Lam, I can hear you when you mutter."

"Fuck off," Sam mumbled and there was a cry of outrage from behind him.

"Excuse me, sir, I am your husband for the time being!" The short Archangel suddenly teleported directly in front of Sam, standing on his suitcase on the bed and brandishing a red and white lollipop like a deadly weapon, "I deserve to be treated with respect!"

"You deserve to be treated how you act," Sam sighed staring up at the Archangel who was smugly revelling in being taller than him, "if you're going to act like an immature child, that is how I will treat you.  Now get off my suitcase so I can unpack."

"R U D E spells rude!" Gabriel huffed but surprisingly did as he was told and teleported to the armchair in front of the TV remaining unnervingly silent as Sam unpacked the rest of his things.

 

 

Ten minutes later, the pair bumped into Dean and Castiel by one of the canoe racks, the former was already glaring daggers at a long haired man who waved cheerily at Castiel when the angel looked to see what the hunter was glaring at.

"Nice to see you making friends, Dean-o," Gabriel quipped and Dean scowled at him.

"He's shifty."

"He said "hello" to us, Dean," Castiel corrected and Sam snorted with realisation.  His brother was jealous.

"Shut up, bitch."

"Yeah, yeah, you jerk," Sam huffed, "where should we start with leads?"

"Someone should probably interview the receptionist," Castiel said slowly and Gabriel slapped his brother on the back.

"So nice of you to volunteer, Cassie!"

Castiel opened his mouth, most likely to protest that he had very much not volunteered to interview Deedee, but the archangel quickly interjected.

"Sam-I-Am and I can check out any other staff- look there's one now!" 

And with that, he grabbed Sam's arm and quickly dragged him off before Dean and Castiel could say a word against having to interview Deedee.  Gabriel stopped in front of the horse paddock that was further away from the lake edge than the cabins stopping in front of a blonde woman feeding one of them out of a bucket.

"Hey there," Sam greeted and she turned smiling brightly at them.

"Heya fellas, I don't think I've seen you two here before, did you just arrive?"

"About half an hour ago, yeah."

"Ah, well I'm Casey," she tapped her chest beaming at them before patting the horse on the head, "and this here is Barra."

Gabriel gestured to the horse and Casey nodded allowing him to pat it.

"I'm in charge of the equestrian trails if that's something you're interested in?" she climbed over the fence into the paddock.  "The next one isn't for another 45 minutes but is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah, uh," Sam scratched the back of his head trying to come across as the nervous tourist, "this might be a bit awkward but before we arrived here we heard that several guests has disappeared...?"

"Oh yeah." Casey's bright smile faded.  "Yeah, it's a- it's been hard round here, but hey, hopefully they turn up again, right?"

So clearly she had no idea of the remains, or if she did she was not going into any details.

"You guys have got nothing to worry about if that's what your wondering, Deedee employed some new security systems and the police have been keeping their eye on us all.  You'll be perfectly safe." 

"Did you know any of the people who vanished?"

"I knew Rita," Casey said quietly as she brushed Barra's mane, "she was real nice to me when I got employed here.  We all called her Mama Rita, she took care of the newbies when they arrived, helped us get settled in, baked cupcakes if it was your birthday.  She was real nice."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Gabriel asked softly, "she sounds so nice, I can't imagine anyone wanting to harm her."

"Me neither." Casey sniffed.  "I saw her you know, the day before it happened.  She was just making dinner for the guests, she was excited about a date she was going on later.  She'd only just met him but she never showed up for the date apparently.  He was running late but when he got there she wasn't there.  He had an alibi and everything according to the news."

"What was his name?"

Casey shrugged.

"I dunno, his name wasn't in the paper and I never saw who it was.  I don't remember Rita saying the name but she might have, I probably wasn't listening."  She sniffed.  "But it wasn't him.  He was hanging out with some of the other guys, I think he left when just after it happened, they said he was pretty upset over it."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Sam said quietly and was surprised when Gabriel touched his arm sympathetically.  

"I didn't know any of the others personally.  Some of them took the equestrian trails but I didn't really speak to them outside of that.  And as far as someone wanting to harm Rita..." she chewed her lip.  "I mean she could be quite bossy sometimes but no-one would want to actually hurt her.  She was always firm but fair, you know?  We loved her.  Everyone did."  She shook her head a little.  "As for the others... I remember the guy, Scott?  He was in singles, apparently he was a bit of a dick according to some of the women I spoke to.  But that's as much as I know about them, but like I said you two are perfectly safe."  She took a few deep breaths before turning and smiling at them.  "Do you want to book an equestrian ride for later?  All inclusive, but I need to know your names at least half an hour in advance to set everything up."

"We'll think about it," Sam nodded, "but thank you."

As they walked away, Gabriel leaned in close.

"Let's hope Dean-o and Cassie can find out a bit more."

\---

Dean and Castiel were not having much luck.  Deedee was one of the most difficult people to interview either of them had ever come across; she was loud, changed the topic, got side tracked and would laugh at random times so every so often a sentence was interrupted by a raucous "haw haw haw!".  However finally, finally, she got back on topic.

"I remember everyone who's walked through these doors," she nodded, "crying shame what happened, especially to Rita.  She was a good friend."  For a good friend, Deedee seemed rather blasé about Rita's likely death.  "It's been bad for business.  Loads cancelled when they heard what happened here despite my assurances about security and the police providing some protection around the place.  I asked them not to be too obvious - lest they disturb the guests - but you'll probably spot them lurking round."  She grinned at them.  "I love some good gossip round here though.  Livens the place up a bit!"

"Six people have disappeared," Castiel reminded her his face cold and Deedee immediately set her face into one of remorse.

"And it is a tragedy."  She paused a moment and then the smile returned.  "Let's see.  Oh there was a rumour that Oscar was a bit, shall we say, unfaithful to Elena."  She nodded seriously but Dean could tell she was bursting with gossip.

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh he was always lurking round the singles, flirted with some of the staff too, some of them wanted to report him but he vanished before any formal complaints ever went through.  I don't think his wife knew."  She shrugged.  "Probably for the best that she only remembers him how she wants to see him.  Oh and then Moira started casting her nets farther from the marriage bed.  People like her and Grace aren't designed to last, you know."  Deedee tutted under her breath not elaborating on what kind of "people" Moira and Grace had been.  Dean wasn't sure he wanted to know.  "I saw her eyeing some other woman barely three days into their visit."

"Some other woman?" Dean raised an eyebrow.  "I thought you remembered everyone who came through these doors?"

Deedee flushed and hurriedly continued.

"Then there was Jacie, nice girl.  I think she had her eyes on one of the lovely lads before she vanished.  Crying shame, I do love it when our resort manages to match people up."

Dean curled his lip in slight disgust.  So Deedee was only interested in how her business was perceived by people and its success.  She didn't care about anyone who had vanished.  Just that it had negatively affected 'Secret Lagoon'.  

"Scott was a bit roguish, flirted with the ladies like there was no tomorrow."  Her head shook disapprovingly.  "I think he more scared the ladies off than encouraged their affections - he was terrible.  It's a shame about what happened but a lot of us are glad that he's gone to be honest - even if it is under such circumstances."

Castiel eyed her disdainfully and Deedee apparently misinterpreted.

"Oh don't look at me like that, honey.  You and your hubby here will be perfectly safe.  Those police are here and they won't bother you in the slightest, I've tried to ensure it as best I can."  She winked.  "You two have fun and romance it up here."

"We'll just be going then," Dean cut in wanting to get as far away from her as possible, "have a nice day!"

"Do come back and chat if you and your husband aren't too _busy_ , huh?"  She burst into her godawful laugh again and Dean and Castiel hurriedly left the reception area away from her.

"What an awful woman," Dean muttered as the door slammed shut behind them and Castiel could only nod in agreement.


End file.
